Tuesday's conference clash was no different as Highland had to fight back late in the second half to stave off the Skyhawks' upset attempt and pull out an 83-75 men's basketball victory at home.

"We just survived," Highland coach Nathan Courtney said. "I'm really proud of the kids and their effort because we just survived. Sauk Valley did a fantastic job."

The Skyhawks (9-9, 1-3) held a 68-60 lead on the Cougars (13-5, 2-1) with six minutes remaining in the game. Then Highland turned it up a notch defensively, led by the play of James Boone and Luke Norman.

"When we were in the locker room (at halftime) I told them in the we have to bring a lot of energy in the second half defensively," Boone said. "We just played hard, got a lot of stops."

They didn't just get stops, they forced Sauk turnovers multiple times down the floor and turned them into points on the offensive end.

Norman's go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining was part of a 15-2 Cougar run that put Highland back in front for good.

"That really kind of turned the tide," Courtney said of the Norman go-ahead 3. "James and Luke were huge the last three minutes. We started listening to the defensive game plan and we were able to guard them. Sauk Valley did a fantastic job but our kids just toughed it out. I'm really happy with these guys and how they stayed focused the last three minutes, executed offensively and defensively what we wanted done and we were able to walk out of here with a win."

Highland looked to be in control of the game with a 10-point lead eight minutes before halftime, but the Skyhawks managed to hang around and only trailed by six at the break. Early in the second half, it was Sauk that took control of the game as Highland struggled to get into a rhythm offensively, which had much to do with the Skyhawks' solid defensive effort.

"I give a lot of credit to Sauk Valley in the defense that they were playing," Courtney said. "They were mixing it up between a box and one and a triangle and two to a diamond and one, whatever they were doing it was one junk defensive possession after another."

The Cougars (6-7, 1-2) missed their first 10 shots of the game, but that was just the start of the bad things to come in a 64-31 loss to Sauk Valley. The Cougars made just 10 of 57 shots in a dreadful performance that left their coach understandably disappointed in his team.

Page 2 of 2 - "I have nothing good to say," Highland coach Chris Westlake said. "I want to first apologize to everybody that was sitting in this gym and saw that effort from our girls. It was the most pathetic performance I've ever seen from any team of any kind in any sport in my life."

Highland came out flat from the get go, and although the Skyhawks (13-3, 2-1) didn't play particularly well in the first half either, shooting only 28 percent and committing three more turnovers than the Cougars, they were still able to build a 15-point lead by halftime.

Sauk Valley was able to double that lead in the second half without much of a fight put forth by Highland, which has now lost four straight.

"We had three very, very poor performances on the road and they just didn't want to be there (tonight)," Westlake said. "When you get that sick feeling about yourself, you lose that confidence, you get discouraged and you play like this."